The Franklin News-Post
P. O. Box 250
310 Main Street, SW
Rocky Mount, Virginia 24151
540-483-5113
Fax: 540-483-8013
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Wednesday, September 16, 2009
By MORRIS STEPHENSON - Staff Writer
Thursday is a big day for six new affiliated partners of The Crooked Road-Virginia's Heritage Music Trail.
Representatives of the six Franklin County venues will be at the Blue Ridge Institute and Museum on the Ferrum College campus at 11 a.m. to receive an official banner that can be displayed at the individual locations.
Members of the Crooked Road's executive board will be on hand to make the presentations, including Roddy Moore, who is executive director of the BRI, which is one of eight major venues along the 253-mile trail with its eastern gateway in Rocky Mount.
Along with the banner goes the right to advertise the site as an official venue of The Crooked Road.
Set to receive banners are the Waidsboro Ruritan Club Bluegrass Jam, Crossroads Ruritan Club Jams, 77 Restaurant Monday Night Jam Session at Ferrum and Sheriff Shively's Storehouse at Crossroads, along with the Warren Street Festival and the Crooked Road Gospel Sing at the Pigg River Community Center, the only two black venues along the Crooked Road.
The latest list was approved Aug. 20 at an executive board meeting held at the Crooked Road's headquarters in Abingdon.
The latest affiliated partners will join the original list, consisting of The Blue Ridge Folklife Festival, Dairy Queen with its Dairy Queen Band, Footlights of the Blue Ridge, Franklin County's Department of the Aging, Tripple Creek Park, Franklin County Fun Fest and the Franklin County's Department of Aging.
There are eight major venues along the Crooked Road from the Eastern Gateway in Rocky Mount west along the trail, including the Blue Ridge Institute and Museum at Ferrum, Floyd Country Store at Floyd, Blue Ridge Music Center on the Blue Ridge Parkway, Rex Theatre at Galax with Galax Old Time Fiddlers' Convention, Birthplace of Country Music Alliance at Bristol, Appalachian Traditions-Country Cabin at Norton, Ralph Stanley Museum and Traditional Mountain Musicï¾ Center at Clintwood and the Carter Family Memorial Music Center in Hiltons.
The Crooked Road's purpose is to generate tourism and economic development in the Appalachian region of Southwestern Virginia by focusing on the regions unique musical heritage. "Response to the concept from communities, musicians, music venues and tourism organizations was positive and immediate," according to TCR website.
As a result, the Crooked Road now includes 10 counties, three cities, 10 towns, five regional planning districts, four state agencies, two tourism organizations and a growing number of music venues.
The state has also given official recognition to The Crooked Road highway signage identifying the route as it winds from the Eastern Gateway at the Route 40/U.S. 220 intersection in Rocky Mount westward into the coalfields of the far southwestern part of the state.
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